|
|
 |
|||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||
 |
|||||||||||||||||
| JOURNAL HOME | HELP | CONTACT PUBLISHER | SUBSCRIBE | ARCHIVE | SEARCH | TABLE OF CONTENTS |
1 Department of Geological Sciences, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois 60208, USA
The Late Devonian mass extinction was unusually protracted and ecologically selective, with preferential diversity losses among reef-building organisms and tropical, shallow-water faunas in general. We have investigated the link between the extinction's unique characteristics and changes in biogeochemical cycling through analyses of the 
13C and C:N:P atomic ratios of organic matter buried across the Kellwasser Horizons in western New York State. Each horizon is characterized by (1) a long-term, +4
–5 excursion in 13C, 
3 of which occurs within the horizon, and (2) a dramatic increase in the burial ratios of C:N:P, from values of 100:15:1 to an average of 5000:170:1. On the basis of these results, we propose that (1) increased efficiency of biolimiting nutrient recycling, resulting from cyclic water column stratification and mixing, promoted eutrophication during Kellwasser deposition in New York, and (2) the isotope excursions represent the composite effect of long-term, global organic C burial, and local changes in photosynthetic C isotope fractionation related to nutrient availability. This eutrophication model forges a mechanistic link between proposed Late Devonian climatic cooling and the selective demise of taxa likely to have been narrowly adapted to oligotrophic conditions.
Key Words: nutrients • C isotopes • organic matter • extinction • Devonian
This article has been cited by other articles:
|
|
 |
|
  J. W. Castle and J. H. Rodgers Jr. Hypothesis for the role of toxin-producing algae in Phanerozoic mass extinctions based on evidence from the geologic record and modern environments Environmental Geosciences, March 1, 2009; 16(1): 1 - 23. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 V. Balter, S. Renaud, C. Girard, and M. M. Joachimski Record of climate-driven morphological changes in 376 Ma Devonian fossils Geology, November 1, 2008; 36(11): 907 - 910. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 J. L. Payne and S. Finnegan The effect of geographic range on extinction risk during background and mass extinction PNAS, June 19, 2007; 104(25): 10506 - 10511. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 L. Riquier, O. Averbuch, N. Tribovillard, A. E. Albani, N. Lazreq, and S. Chakiri Environmental changes at the Frasnian-Famennian boundary in Central Morocco (Northern Gondwana): integrated rock-magnetic and geochemical studies Geological Society, London, Special Publications, January 1, 2007; 278(1): 197 - 217. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
L. R. Kump, A. Pavlov, and M. A. Arthur Massive release of hydrogen sulfide to the surface ocean and atmosphere during intervals of oceanic anoxia Geology, May 1, 2005; 33(5): 397 - 400. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 E. Ingall, L. Kolowith, T. Lyons, and M. Hurtgen Sediment carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus cycling in an anoxic fjord, Effingham Inlet, British Columbia Am J Sci, March 1, 2005; 305(3): 240 - 258. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 Organic Carbon Burial and Phosphogenesis in the Antler Foreland Basin: An Out-of-Phase Relationship During the Lower Mississippian Journal of Sedimentary Research, November 1, 2003; 73(6): 844 - 855.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Y.-M. Gong and R. Xu Conodont apatite {delta}18O signatures indicate climatic cooling as a trigger of the Late Devonian mass extinction: Comment and Reply: COMMENT Geology, April 1, 2003; 31(4): 383 - 383. [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
M. M. Joachimski and W. Buggisch Reply Geology, April 1, 2003; 31(4): 384 - 384. [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 null Chen Daizhao, D. CHEN, MAURICEE. TUCKER, Y. SHEN, J. YANS, and A. PREAT Carbon isotope excursions and sea-level change: implications for the Frasnian-Famennian biotic crisis Journal of the Geological Society, December 1, 2002; 159(6): 623 - 626. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
A. Peterhansel and B. R. Pratt Nutrient-triggered bioerosion on a giant carbonate platform masking the postextinction Famennian benthic community Geology, December 1, 2001; 29(12): 1079 - 1082. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
M. R. Saltzman Silurian {delta}13C stratigraphy: A view from North America Geology, August 1, 2001; 29(8): 671 - 674. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
G. Racki and P. Wignall Comment and Reply: Eutrophication by decoupling of the marine biogeochemical cycles of C, N, and P: A mechanism for the Late Devonian mass extinction Geology, May 1, 2001; 29(5): 469 - 470. [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
A.E. Murphy, B.B. Sageman, and D.J. Hollander REPLY Geology, May 1, 2001; 29(5): 470 - 471. [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
| JOURNAL HOME | HELP | CONTACT PUBLISHER | SUBSCRIBE | ARCHIVE | SEARCH | TABLE OF CONTENTS |
